The Next Industrial Revolution

The Next Industrial Revolution

As we divert from mere optimization of natural processes, new systems and materials with previously impossible qualities emerge. Cell-free biological factories and biomanufacturing are paving the way for the next biologically-inspired industrial revolution.

Novel materials for industrial fabrication and biological-based manufacturing processes are paving the way for better performance and more sustainable manufacturing, heralding the next industrial revolution.

Biological factories are slowly overcoming their initial yield hurdle, and microbe-produced high-value chemicals are positioning themselves as a staple of our industry. But beyond that, the understanding of biological systems and the application of biomimicry to an array of processes could be a key step to make current systems radically more sustainable. With digital manufacturing at the forefront, biological production might soon break its cellular bounds and reach another milestone of cell-free, isolated biological entities and multi-layered production systems. The shift now is from cellular factories to biologically-inspired and enabled industries.

Key Issues & Questions

Consumer Electronics and Synthetic Biology

What is the current landscape of synthetic biology-enabled consumer electronics?

What consumer devices would you expect to see in the next 2, 5 or 10 years?

Digital, Biological, Material

How has the interaction between the digital and biological culminated in new materials, as opposed to hardware?

Should biology aim to be more like digital, or is there an intrinsic value in biological materials that must be preserved?

Biological Aided Design, Biological Aided Manufacturing

What are key examples of biomimicry and biological aided design in today’s synthetic biology industry?

What comes after microbial factories for manufacturing?

Designing for Developability

What do the best targets of development look like?

How does a company think about a product’s developability in the context of commercial viability, regulatory acceptance, and market understanding?

Cell-Free Is the New Frontier

What’s the current landscape of cell-free manufacturing?

How does going cell-free broaden the scope of synthetic biology?

High-Value Chemicals Made by Microbes

What are the key cases of microbial-enabled manufacturing, and how should they evolve in the coming years?

What extraction and manufacturing industries are ripe for disruption through the use of microbial factories?

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